Ahead of the Presidential elections, Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced support to NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu ignoring Yashwant Sinha, who is the opposition's nominne.
While, the Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena is yet to clear its stand on supporting Murmu. However, Eknath Shinde today assured that all MLAs will vote for Murmu under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"We will fully support Droupadi Murmu for the Presidential elections. All our MLAs will vote for her under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi," Eknath Shinde was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena dropped broad hints that it may support Murmu but NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal denied any such rumour saying that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party hasn't extended its support to anyone yet.
"Till now, Shiv Sena hasn't extended its support to anyone regarding the Presidential elections. It is yet to make the final decision," Bhujbal said while interacting with media.
"It is clear that Shiv Sena is definitely working towards strengthening the party. When such a large number of people leave the party, then efforts have to be made at the ground level and Uddhav Thackeray is doing so," Bhujbal was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, after Uddhav Thackeray called a meeting on July 11, party leader Sanjay Raut earlier today confirmed that there were discussions about Murmu at the meeting and said that supporting Murmu does not mean supporting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
"We discussed Droupadi Murmu (NDA's Presidential candidate) in our meeting yesterday. Supporting Droupadi Murmu does not mean supporting BJP. Shiv Sena's role will be clear in a day or two; party chief Uddhav Thackeray will make a decision," Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.
He also highlighted that the party had goodwill toward the opposition's Presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha.
Yesterday, most of the Sena MPs made a strong case for supporting Droupadi Murmu and not for Yashwant Sinha, the opposition’s nominee.
The voting for the presidential election will take place on July 18 and the counting of votes will take place on July 21. While Droupadi Murmu is the presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA, Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the opposition parties.
